To mark Endometriosis Awareness Month, Baylor College of Medicine will host a special documentary screening of “Below the Belt.”
That documentary will be followed by a panel discussion with experts.
The documentary focuses on how many women suffer from this painful disease. Some statistics say one in 10 women have the disease; others say it’s even more common (one in nine).
Yet, many women feel they’re too often misdiagnosed and not properly covered by insurance to get the treatment they need.
“It definitely derailed my career,” Alison Landolt said she first felt symptoms at 13 years old. “Like, someone’s pouring battery acid on my insides.”
However, her story is similar to other women with endometriosis because she says she wasn’t believed, she was misdiagnosed, and didn’t get the correct surgery until she was in crisis years later.
“I had to have emergency surgery before my fallopian tubes ruptured. So, that was how I got diagnosed. It was sort of incidental, and they told me ‘You must’ve had an STD, you must’ve had pelvic inflammatory disease’... basically, ‘This is your fault,’” Landolt said.
She finally found out the truth after going to Dr. Xiaoming Guan, Division Chief of Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery at Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women and a professor at Baylor College of Medicine.
He has compassion for the years of pain his patients have suffered.
“A lot of patients have surgery with other physicians and they say ‘Oh, there’s no endometriosis in your pelvis,’” Dr. Guan said. “So they come to me, and we see it everywhere!”
Endometriosis is a complex disease where cells similar to the lining of the uterine are found elsewhere in the body, causing pain, inflammation, and organ dysfunction. Landolt said it’s time to stop stigmatizing the disease.
“So, much of the disease is focused around painful menstruation. People tend to think of it as it’s just a women’s problem, it’s just a uterine problem, it’s just a period problem,” she explained. “It really does a disservice to people suffering with endometriosis to just focus on ‘Ew, it’s just a gross period.’”
Luckily, she’s found a force of women who support her because they share the same feeling.
On Saturday, they’re coming together with a panel of experts to preview “Below the Belt.”
“We’re going to have a psychiatrist, basic science research, have physical therapy, and our minimally invasive team. They’re going to go together to give information and discussion about endometriosis,” Dr. Guan said.
The film, from director Shannon Cohn, will be screened Saturday, March 4, from 1-3 p.m. at the Cullen Auditorium at Baylor College of Medicine (1 Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77030).
Tickets are $15.